Psychology of the Terrorist

 

 

 

 

Motivation of the Terrorist:

Psychological Motivation

Psychological forces cause terrorists to rationalize their actions. The "us versus them" mentality causes the terrorist to displace blame on the victim or on the target audience, saying that it is "their" fault and "they" deserve to suffer from the terrorist's actions. A terrorist may also displace blame onto a superior saying that he is taking an order. In addition, a terrorist dehumanizes the victim in order to relieve himself of some of the guilt associated with committing the killing. Further, narcissistic wounding, occurring in formative years may cause psychological imbalances in making a person particularly susceptible to a terrorist lifestyle. These feelings of humiliation or inferiority may make a child grow to blame the society which turned its back. Thus the matured terrorist seeks to reaffirm his existence and importance via violence.

Cost versus Benefit Motivation

Some experts on terrorism believe that terrorists are not psychologically motivated to commit these acts, but make a conscious, premeditated, strategic decision to commit terrorist acts. These costs include the risk of being caught and the disapproval of the terrorist act. However, they must weigh this disapproval with the possibility that the public could potentially rally in support of the terrorist group, forcing the government to acknowledge the terrorist group, thus demonstrating the government's weakness and the terrorist's power.

 

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